I'll Be Your Wife for the Night #01

Women outlived men. Whether by sickness, accident, murder, duel, or war, men had a way of dying long before their time. The landscape was dotted with wickedly conniving widows looking for a wealthy man. Fearing the worst, he wasn't keen on splitting all that he worked so hard to own with someone he didn't know and with someone who didn't have his best interest at heart. In the way that his beloved Elizabeth had truly loved him and in the way that he had truly loved her, he didn't want to make the mistake of marrying someone who didn't truly love him.

Oftentimes, when he saw a pretty woman, he was blinded by one-sided love. What he thought was love was nothing more than a financial opportunity for a conniving and deceiving woman. Too many women were willing to trade sex for money and social standing. Too many conniving women forsook love for comfort and security. Oftentimes, marriages of convenience turned into marriages of inconvenience, bitterness, and hatred than they turned into marriages of love. Sadly but realistically, he didn't think that he could ever love again.

### SusanJillParker 04 - Blue Byrne Manor ###

Without his wife by his side, Lord Dudley handled his estate duties alone.

* * * * *

Situated on a scenic hill that overlooked a ten-thousand-acre estate in Wessex, England, Blue Byrne Manor, by English standards was of medium size. As estates go, his home having only forty rooms, was of modest size too. He spent more money on the many outbuildings, the barns, the animal pens, the corals, and the silos. Then there were the stable, the outhouses, the kitchen outbuilding that stood away from the house in case of fire, the springhouses, dairies, washhouse, icehouse, corncrib, sheds, shacks, and the repair shop where his craftsman could manufacture anything they needed. It took a lot of money and a large staff of workers to maintain an English estate, even one as modest in size as was this one.

His two favorite rooms were his bedroom, where he slept and made love with his wife, Elizabeth, and the in-the-main-house kitchen, where the cozy, happy atmosphere and the delicious smells wafted in the air from his Head Cook, Susan's, cooking skills. Normally a Lord would never step foot in the kitchen but this was where he grew up and lived as a boy with his mother, father, and siblings. Moreover, with his house always so cold, the kitchen was the warmest room in the house.

Rodents were a serious problem back then and Lord Dudley's household had a pack of Manchester terriers that roamed his house, his barn, his stable, and his land killing rats. An intelligent, fearless, and ferocious dog, he trained his dogs to take the rats outside and put them in a pile once they killed them so that he could burn them. One Manchester terrier could easily kill a dozen rats in just a few minutes and he had a dozen of them. With the dogs roaming his house, his outbuildings, and his land, the rats moved to other estates that didn't have a pack of rat killing dogs.

Providing a living for the tradesman and farmers who worked his land, his estate thrived. Resplendent with forests filled with wildlife for hunting, groves of fruit trees for picking, gardens, streams, and even a lake stocked with fish for fishing, everything Lord Dudley needed was here. From chickens to pigs, cows, horses, mules, and goats, the estate housed every type of livestock. A real, rural farming community, in the distance, farms stretched out over the landscape as far as the eye could see.

Within a few miles by horse and/or by wagon was a small village where people lived and worked and where his staff bought whatever supplies they needed that they couldn't grow, make, or build. Lord Dudley hired his help from the village to keep Blue Byrne Manor running smoothly with a modest staff. Some of the more trusted staff members lived inside the Manor, while others lived close by or in the village. Even without his wife alive to oversee the household, his housekeeper kept everything in order and his staff in place. With everything taken care of for him, Lord Dudley didn't have to worry about anything, except for the official, financial business of running the estate.

Typically the case, with him the king of his castle, even though he was good to his staff, nonetheless, the household staff was more concerned about him than he was about them. With him still grieving over the loss of his wife, they worried that he was spending too much time alone in his bedroom. His staff loved their Lord of the Manor dearly and, sometimes, when he was overcome with sadness and with grief, not taking food or drink, he'd stay hidden in his room the whole day. Only the senior most members of his staff dared to interact with him when he was in such a sad mood.

A good, honorable, and God-fearing man who had improved their lives, he paid his help a fair wage and treated them kindly. A fair wage and kind treatment wasn't the case in other grand homes and castles throughout England during the mid to late nineteenth century. An economic decline made for hard times for many of the elite families and they scrambled to keep their estates from failing by cutting unnecessary expenses and redundant costs. With Lords and Ladies unwilling to cut back on any luxuries, the salaries of their staffs were the first and the biggest expenses to cut.

Dismissed without pay, many workers were left to fend for themselves to steal, rob, and/or beg in the streets after Lords and Ladies cut their household staffs to cut costs. A simple man who didn't need to live high on the hog, instead of cutting his staff to cut expenses, he bought their loyalty and assured their goodwill by providing for them. When they reached ten years of service, something that other estate owners didn't do, Lord Dudley gave key members of his staff a yearly bonus payment to guarantee their futures. His unpresented generosity translated in his staff working harder, staying longer, and being more loyal.

With him not having any children or heirs, and with all his siblings dead, he was the last of the Blue Byrne Manor Lords. Should something happen to him, his estate would fall into the hands of some distant cousin or someone with the money to buy it outright. Inspiring his generosity to give while he still could, he'd have no assurances that his employees would be kept on by the new owner. Unusual for a man in his financial and social position to be, he was as generous with his money as he was kind and considerate by his actions.

### SusanJillParker 05 - Still Grieving ###

Coaxing him out of bed with food.

* * * * *

As their not so subtle hint that they wanted him to leave his bedroom so that they could clean it and change the bedding, his upstairs maid slipped in his room earlier and partially opened the heavy, bedroom drapes. Impossible for him to sleep now, as if a laser beam of sunlight peeked through the heavy draperies to illuminate him. Between the gold threads that were woven in the blue fabric and the tinker bells that sparkled a rainbow of colors across the walls of the room made it appear as if only happiness could be contained within his bed. Only, with him still sadly grieving over the loss of his beloved wife, looks could be deceiving.

The bed, a huge four-poster made of heavy mahogany was hand carved and hand rubbed by a master craftsman in the area. His wife had commissioned the bed for him as a wedding gift, and for the first time in his life, he was speechless when he saw such a manly bed. The best piece of furniture in his house, even better than his dining room table, every time he slept in it, he thought of making passionate love to his beloved wife, Elizabeth.

Never refusing his sexual advances, a time when men were literally and figuratively king of their castles, once he was married, his wife was the only lover he had ever known. Unlike other Lords who kept mistresses, solicited prostitutes, had sex with their staff, and/or who caroused too much and drank too much, he preferred staying close to home. Missing the warmth of her body, perhaps because she always had a low-grade fever, but she always ran hot and was always kicking off the covers when he was always cold and pulling up the covers. Just as his heart was full of anguish and pain, his bed was now cold and empty.

Sadness, loneliness, and despair forced him to remain isolated in his bedroom longer each day. With food and water served up to him, he barely touched his food. Returning as if a ghost from Heaven, he imagined that if he stayed in bed long enough, somehow, his beloved Elizabeth would reappear and join him once again. Reality jolted him back when he heard a soft knock on his bedroom door. Wishing it was her knocking from the other side of eternity, he knew better.

"Enter," he swallowed his hope that his wife would ever reappear.

He watched his bedroom door open and did his best to not only hide his disappointment but also his morning erection when his wife wasn't there opening his bedroom door. As always was the case, he masturbated at night before bed and again the first thing in the morning. Frequent masturbation was what saved him from going mad with despair, loneliness, horniness, and sexual frustration.

"Good morning, My Lord," said Sarah, his kitchen maid. She entered his bedroom with a silver tray and gently closed the door most of the way behind her. "I've brought you your tea and some breakfast, My Lord."

Food was the last thing he wanted. Female friendship was what he needed. Not hungry for food, he hungered for his wife. If not his wife, he hungered for female companionship. He hungered for sex but not just any woman would do. He hungered for not just sex, he hungered for love, and Sarah was the youngest and the least attractive woman on his staff. Her saving grace, much like all his female staffers, she had big tits. Surrounding himself with big, breasted women, he had a propensity for hiring women with big tits.

Besides, with him Lord of the Manor, how would that look if he bedded his upstairs maid? Moreover, with him a grieving widower, anyone he put the sexual moves on would think him a letch, especially Sarah who was so very young. Moreover, with him Lord of the Manor, any woman he put the sexual moves on would think he was romantically interested in them taking Elizabeth's place as his second wife. He wasn't keen on hooking up with a conniving woman who was only interested in him for his wealth, his house, his land, and his social standing.

"Thank you, Sarah, but I'm not feeling hungry this morning," said Lord Dudley preoccupied.

She looked away from his face to stare at his morning wood that tented his blanket before quickly averting her eyes when he caught her staring. Seemingly fascinated with his erection, she looked away when he looked at her. In the way that she looked at him and was obviously enamored with his erection, he suddenly had the urge to expose himself to her. Yet, controlling the horniness that turned him wicked inside, he controlled himself from embarrassing her and himself.

'I wonder what she'd do if I showed her my erect prick. I wonder what she'd say. Would she stare at my engorged cock or would she look away? Would she fall to her knees and take me in her hand before taking me in her mouth or would she run, screaming from my room,' he thought. 'Maybe she'd want to fuck me in the way that I'm willing to fuck anyone now, even her.'

"Please try a bite of scone with some strawberry jam, My Lord. The Head Cook, made it especially for you. She hoped that it would be good enough to tempt you to eat," said Sarah said with big smile. "For Susan to say that it's good, then it must be really good."

Lord Dudley returned Sarah's smile with his while continuing to hide his erection with his hand.

"Well, if that's the case, then I must try it," said Lord Dudley. He took a small bite, barely a nibble and said, "Please tell Susan that it's delicious! Thank you, Sarah, that will be all. I shall look forward to enjoying this fine breakfast with my tea."

### SusanJillParker 06 - Lord Dudley ###

Having grieved long enough over his beloved Elizabeth, Lord Dudley finally returns to how he was before Elizabeth's death.

* * * * *

After Sarah left, Lord Dudley finished the scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream and drank his tea. Feeling better after eating, he climbed out of bed, and walked to the window that overlooked the fields behind his house. When he looked at his unmade bed, he thought how odd it was to continue sleeping on the left side of the bed and not in the middle. Now that Elizabeth was gone, he had the whole bed to himself. Only, as if her ghost was still there sleeping beside him, he couldn't bring himself to sleep on her side of the bed.

'Elizabeth. I love you. I miss you. Hail Mary...' he prayed.

As Lord of the Manor, he'd needed to consider a new wife and to produce an heir as well. He and Elizabeth were not blessed with children, a concern for the continuance of Blue Bryn Manor. Yet, now that he was older, he wasn't keen on having children in any woman's image in the way that he once wanted children in Elizabeth's when he was younger. If he had children with someone now, by the time they were teenagers, he'd be an old man or dead.

Pale and always looking tired with bags beneath her eyes, Elizabeth had always been a slight woman and not very healthy. Whatever illness traveled around the house, she caught. Prone to colds, he always tried to get her to eat more to build up her reserve. A pretty woman, if there was anything he wished he could have changed about her, he wished she had been blessed with larger breasts and red hair. He had a fondness for busty redheads. After seeing some of his staff that had breasts the size of his perception of English milkmaids, wondering what they're naked breasts looked like and felt like in his hands, he was always curious about big breasted women.

At close to six feet tall and slightly over two-hundred pounds, Lord Dudley was an attractive and fit man. Deemed a modern man, he was in his forties, and had short, brown hair. His hazel eyes, an unusual mix of brown, blue, and green with hints of gold, changed color to reflect and correspond with the colors he wore. He had been complimented many times by women on the unique color of his eyes.

Unlike most lords who never worked an honest day in their pampered lives, Lord Dudley enjoyed the outdoors. Digging in the dirt and getting his fingers dirty, he enjoyed being close to his land. On occasion, he even toiled alongside his farmers in the fields whenever he had the time and the inclination. Where most lords were content to remain hidden in their damp and cold mansions while wearing a long fur coat in the way of a king, he enjoyed walking and riding his land while surveying the ever-changing landscape.

Until Elizabeth had taken ill and died, he was outdoors more than he was indoors. He'd rather be walking and riding than being cooped up in his dark, damp house. A people person, he loved strolling the village and greeting people. Seemingly he knew everyone and everyone knew him. Generous to a fault, always with the belief that there goes he before God, he never passed a beggar without giving them a few coins.

His skin was tanned from the sun, a look that made him even more attractive to women. The outdoor work afforded him a strong body with muscles that further appealed to the fairer sex. He wished Elizabeth had taken his advice and had taken more to the air but the rain, the fog, and the dampness increased her coughing enough to keep her sequestered indoors and in bed. After a while, regardless if she was outside or inside, she was always coughing. Coughing, coughing, and coughing, her constant coughing echoed throughout the great hall. Coughing and coughing, she was always coughing.

Being that women lived longer than men and with men more prone to drinking, smoking, and having deadly accidents, typically their wives survived them. Widows were plentiful and with him an eligible bachelor, they all hoped to marry a wealthy, eligible man, especially a Lord, any Lord will do, young or old, fat or thin. Especially after his wife died, aggressive and desperate women constantly solicited him for his attention and, perhaps, even for sex. Even when Elizabeth was still alive, whenever he was in the village, especially while knowing that she lay dying, they tempted and teased him while hoping for his affection. Obviously, women were willing to do anything to improve their lot.

Now that his wife was gone and with him still mourning her loss, after rejecting many invitations by not responding to them, women didn't invite him to parties, balls, and social affairs anymore. Those widowed women who called upon him unannounced and uninvited to deliver something they made, stopped calling on him after not being greeted at his door by him in person but by one of his servants. Still grieving over the loss of his wife, even though he was lonely, horny, and sexually frustrated, Lord Dudley couldn't even conceive the idea of being intimate with another woman, especially one he didn't know very well and didn't love.

Taught love-making techniques by his Uncle Randall from women of the night that he hired to teach his nephew, Dudley had sowed his wild oats before marrying Elizabeth. Once married, a romantic man more interested in romance than in sex, staying close to home, he never strayed. Enjoying being married, he liked having a wife who waited for him to return home and who'd greet him at the door with a kiss and an embrace. Faithful to her to a fault, his mind, his body, and his soul belonged to his beloved wife, even now in her death. His only regret, other than her dying so young, was that she was unable to conceive children.

He would have liked to have a few sons to help him with the daily chores. He would have loved to have a daughter in her image. He was jealous of his friends and neighbors who had more than their fair share of children. With her leaving nothing behind but her memories, he would have loved to had children to tell them how beautiful their mother was. A sad joke, never thinking he'd ever be alone, but for his household staff, he was alone and lonely.

Just thinking of his wife made his heart ache and his manhood throb. He had sexually pleasured himself many times since her death but, a temporary fix, masturbating himself wasn't nearly the same as making love to his wife. Instead of feeling sexual relief after ejaculating, he still felt sexually frustrated. Not the same sexually pleasuring himself as it would be for his wife to sexually pleasure him, masturbation left him feeling hornier and lonelier than he did before he masturbated himself.

With plenty of women around who were willing to forsake their bodies and trade sex for money, he thought of seeking the comfort of a woman for hire, but he'd never lay with a woman of the night. Besides his staff would talk and gossip about him. Judging him, his staff would lose respect for him. Instead of seeking the sexual comfort of a lady of the night for hire or entertaining the thought of perspective wives, he took to the solitude of the daily air. He walked, hiked, and/or rode his horse. With always something new to see, the air and the scenery helped him take his mind off his loneliness and his sexual frustration.

Always finding a new trail that he never knew existed, he loved riding the meandering paths of his grounds. An added benefit to him being seen out and about riding his horse around his land curtailed the poaching. He also enjoyed walking through his expansive English gardens outside the front entry-way of his house and that continued partway around the side of his house and stopped where the sun stopped.

Elizabeth loved these gardens and now he did too. Whenever he was troubled, in the way that Elizabeth used to do, he sought out the garden for its peaceful quiet while talking to his dearly departed wife. He always thought it odd how nature knew the best spots to seek out the warmth of the sun. Now, it took a small army of gardeners to do what his wife loved to do and was passionate about doing in her free time.